1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an armrest attached to a side portion of a seat, back of a vehicle seat. More particularly, the invention relates to a vehicle armrest, which respond to a side impact with another vehicle.
2. Description of the Related Art
A vehicle seat is typically provided with an armrest to allow the seated individual to rest his/her arm on. This armrest is able to be raised and lowered at the side portion of the seat back so as not to impede getting into and out of the vehicle.
Japanese Patent Application Publication No. JP-A-7-194462, for example, discloses one such armrest. This armrest is structured such that, even if it is in a lowered position (hereinafter also referred to as “in-use position”), it rotates horizontally toward the side of the seat back when a load of a fixed amount or more is applied to it in a direction toward the side of the seat back so that it will not get in the way when a seated individual gets out of the vehicle or moves to an adjacent seat.
With the vehicle armrest disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. JP-A-7-194462, however, the armrest may also rotate horizontally toward the side of the seat back inadvertently if the weight of the seated individual shifts toward the armrest side as it might when the vehicle is turning, for example. This inadvertent rotation of the armrest may result in a loss of a sense of stability during use.